On another continent altogether, his photographs are currently on display at MATE¬†in Peru. The museum and centre was established by celebrated fashion photographer Mario Testino with the aim of creating a cultural exchange between Peruvian artists and the world, and international contemporary art and audiences in Lima. The show is titled¬†The Route of the N√≠ger: From Mopti to Tombuct√∫. In 1958 Maiga established¬†his first studio in the village of N’Gouma in the Mopti region. Though there’s a consistent formality to be found in his images, many were shot outdoors in a makeshift studio as he spent two years travelling the route of the River Niger taking people’s portraits along the way. In 1960, the year of Mali’s independence from France, he set up in Timbuktu. Maiga is known as one of the first people to bring a camera to the Niger region and for many of his subjects it would have been the first time they were ever photographed.

Though Maiga’s life’s work was intended as a commercial enterprise – he continues to live and work in Bamako today – through this everyday documentation, he captured Mali’s journey through independence and the socio-economic effect this had on his subjects, the fashion they chose to wear and how they chose to present themselves to his camera.

All Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell GalleryAll Images are ‘Copyright of the artist, courtesy of Jack Bell Gallery